Sunday, October 18, 2026

Hackers Exploiting ThinkPHP Vulnerability To Expand Hakai and Yowai Botnets

Threat actors actively exploiting the patched ThinkPHP remote code execution vulnerability to gain control over the web servers.

Trend Micro observed the new campaign in which the Cybercriminals exploiting ThinkPHP Vulnerability to expand the Hakai and Yowai Botnets.

In this campaign threat, actors used botnets to breach websites using the vulnerability in the framework invoke function method to execute malicious code on the server.

“Cybercriminals use websites created using the PHP framework to breach web servers via dictionary attacks on default credentials and gain control of these routers for distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS).” reads Trend Micro blog post.

ThinkPHP
Default Credentials

According to researchers, Yowai botnet has the same configuration table as like the Mirai variants and additionally adds the ThinkPHP exploit with other vectors.

Yowai carries out communication with command and control server over port 6 to receive commands and once it infects the router, then it launches a dictionary attack to infect other devices.

All the infected devices then turn to be a part of the botnet and the threat actors use the botnet to launch highly intensive DDoS attacks.

Along with ThinkPHP Vulnerability Yowai exploiting following vulnerabilities that includes CVE-2014-8361, a Linksys RCE, CVE-2018-10561, CCTV-DVR RCE.

Hakai botnet previously targets only IoT devices, in this new campaign it adds a number of exploits including ThinkPHP, D-Link DSL-2750B router vuln, CVE-2015-2051, CVE-2014-8361, and CVE-2017-17215.

Hakai and Yowai can easily be abused by cybercriminals to breach web servers and attack websites, researchers concluded.

Related Read

Outlaw Hacking Group Using Command Injection Flow To Attack Organizations Network using Botnet via C&C Server

Hackers Offering DDoS-for-Hire Service Powered by Bushido Botnet in Dark Web Markets

Chalubo Botnet Compromise Your Server or IoT Device & Use it for DDOS Attack

Gurubaran
Gurubaran
Gurubaran is a co-founder of Cyber Security News and GBHackers On Security. He has 10+ years of experience as a Security Consultant, Editor, and Analyst in cybersecurity, technology, and communications.

Hot this week

How To Access Dark Web Anonymously and know its Secretive and Mysterious Activities

What is Deep Web The deep web, invisible web, or...

How to Build and Run a Security Operations Center (SOC Guide) – 2023

Today’s Cyber security operations center (CSOC) should have everything...

Russian Hackers Bypass EDR to Deliver a Weaponized TeamViewer Component

TeamViewer's popularity and remote access capabilities make it an...

Web Server Penetration Testing Checklist – 2026

Web server pentesting is performed under three significant categories: identity,...

ATM Penetration Testing – Advanced Testing Methods to Find The Vulnerabilities

ATM Penetration testing, Hackers have found different approaches to...

Hackers Use ConnectWise SkyKick Credentials to Access Microsoft 365, Halting Cloud Backups

Attackers abused compromised ConnectWise Cloud Backup credentials to access...

Anthropic’s Claude AI Uncovers Origins of NSA-Provided Cryptographic Keys After 25 Years

Anthropic says an internal Claude research model reconstructed how...

OpenBSD Kernel Flaw Dating Back 37 Years Enables Local Privilege Escalation to Root

A newly disclosed OpenBSD kernel exploitation chain combines a...

GhostAction Hackers Hide Credential-Stealing Malware in Fake Font Files Across 94 GitHub Repositories

GhostAction attackers have expanded their GitHub credential theft campaign...

SideCopy Hackers Target Indian Organizations With ReverseRAT Malware to Steal Data

Indian authorities have warned that SideCopy hackers are targeting...

New GhostBat Android Malware Targets 60 Banking and UPI Apps to Steal PINs

A new GhostBat RAT variant targets 60 Android financial...

New ROMULUS Malware Platform Uses Six Servers to Deliver Multiple Malicious Payloads

ROMULUS, a shared ClickFix delivery platform operating across six...

Related Articles

Recent News